Rethinking and researching transformation in higher education: A meta-study of South African trends

Abstract

Transformation is often loosely defined. We argue that the reason for this is its inherent complexity. Paradoxically, its lack of definition is an asset, which provides an opportunity to rethink and research transformation in higher education, rather than an urgent problem to be solved. In this article, the possibilities for researching and rethinking transformation are based on an exploration of transformation in higher education and the policy directives that influenced its development in South Africa. A meta-study was used to determine the national publishing trends in the South African Journal of Higher Education and the way transformation in higher education is situated in some of the articles in this journal. The population of the study comprised 1050 articles published between 2005 and 2015 in the South African Journal of Higher Education. These were analysed to determine the broad national publishing trends. Thereafter, an in-depth analysis was conducted on 30 of these articles to determine the approach to transformation in higher education and the context in which it was discussed. Based on the findings of the analysis, we recommend future directions for rethinking and researching transformation in higher education.

The relationship between internationalisation, creativity and transformation: A case study of higher education in Hungary

“…Specifically within an educational context, Du Preez et al (2016) suggest that transformation is an inherently complex, fluid, open-ended construct, which can refer to changes in institutional structures and culture, as well as to specific elements such as curriculum and academic and student experiences. Mezirow (1978) was one of the first theorists to apply the concept of transformation to learning.…”

Rage, loss and other footpaths: Subjectification, decolonisation and transformation in higher education

“…Thomas (2012) Davids (2016:1) argues that 'universities, in their multiplex roles of social, political, epistemological and capital reform, are by their constitution expected to symbolise and enact transformation'. Although the need for transformation in higher education (hereafter HE) in South Africa seems indisputable, there seems to be a wide range of views on the nature, purpose(s) and process(es) of that transformation (Davids 2016;Du Preez, Simmonds & Verhoef 2016;Heleta 2016;Ramathan 2016;Waghid 2016). This article explores the perspective on transformation the recent #mustfall protests, as an Event (Žižek 2014), could provide.…”

Decolonising the future in the untransformed present in South African higher education

“…Du Preez, Simmonds and Verhoef (2016) argue that some have construed transformation as a complex, open-ended concept with several interpretations, while others have dismissed it as vague and indistinct making it theoretically and practically inapplicable in the South African higher education context or anywhere else. DoE (2008: 38) argued that most higher education institutions created or developed different understandings of transformation, which they used in their mission statement.…”